CSI Central Sky Island
by C. MacWilliams
Summary: In a world based after the human race went extinct, the recreations from stem cells repopulate a world left from their ancestors. Sam Diamond is a far descendant in a futuristic world where evil reigns and 15-year-olds get no real rights...
1. Prologue

There started with one, "**The Father**", who made the very earthen barren we first stood on. The Father realized that his strength alone could not lift this Earth into the sky to protect it, so he made four other copies of himself, each being uniquely different. The first two were both named the same, for The Father had hoped for two identical. They were named "**FT**", who would turn their names into a world-wide corporation, "FUTURE TECH." The others, however, controlled two important elements that drive our world. The one was nameless and controlled all of the elements, and held a holy token to give to only a hero. The other was simply named **Power,** for he controlled it in every essence, and it was his spirit that kept the island afloat in midair.

However, once the early human race began to flourish, The Father saw them as a workforce and demanded they pay tribute to him. The FT's, being identical to him, took up his fight. However, the **unnamed** and Power fought to protect the freedom of the early humans, and they all sealed themselves into the island itself to ensure the land could be protected. The FT's and The Father, however, continued to roam the land, unable to harm the humans, but still able to corrupt them to do their own evil deeds. There has always been an ancient prophecy from The Father's sub conscience that the unnamed and Power shall rise again when two heroes find them.

And that, of course, is where two heroes come in.

_If only they were heroes..._


	2. Chapter One:  A Short Introduction

**[Sky Island High School, present day, Year 2021 (5571)]**

My eyelids slowly dragged across my eyes and the light of day slowly faded into my vision. I blinked a few times and took in a breath, slowly sitting up. I could see the faded shape of everything in the dormitory; the dresser at my side of the room, my closet door, my bed frame, Jack heading out the door… Jack heading out the door? I shook out of my tired state, all the details of the room becoming 1080p clear. That was right, Jack was heading out. But _why_ was he? The one thing I've known my room mate for was utter laziness. He would be the one to cut class to sleep on the fake grass in the courtyard or on the cold steel floors of the halls. Why the _hell_ was he leaving so early? Besides, from what I heard from him yesterday, he was going to a "kick-ass binge drinking and bow-chicka-bow-wow" party, though I never actually know if all the shit he says about that sort of stuff is true. If it was, he would be grumbling from an outstanding hangover and wouldn't get up. If it wasn't, and he just snuck off for a make out session with his short-time girlfriend Annie, he still wouldn't get out of bed. So why the sudden change of character?

I rubbed my eyes and slipped off the top bunk into my shoes. I'll find out later. I opened up my closet door, walking into my personal paradise of two or three outfits and gear. I picked a usual pair of navy blue jeans and called out in the confined space.

"Password: iamdiamond." A click responded and a small, spherical head poked out of the ceiling. Its eyes were a red light on the left and a small aperture on the right.

"Good morning, Master Diamond. How did you sleep?" it spoke in its robotic voice.

"Not the longest one yet, but hey, installation is more important than an early bed-time." The head turned, its red light "eye" coming closer to the ground.

"My apologies, Master Diamond, but what is this 'installation' you are mentioning?" I shook my head. Give a robotic companion and AI and a memory unit, you get an understanding friend. Leave the memory unit without cleaning house every once in a while, you get a pain-in-the-ass sort of friend.

"Proto, I can't keep reminding you of this, it's going to be ine of the greats in my inventions." I opened up a drawer and pulled out a clunky but smooth wristwatch. Proto nodded at the sight of it.

"Right, Master Diamond, your new all-purpose holo-watch. Very nice accessory for your… Limited amount of clothing options."

"Proto, I don't pay you to criticize my look."

"Two things about that last sentence, Master Diamond, the first being that name. I don't quite understand why my name must always refer to me being a prototype. Can't I have a fair name?"

"Mmmmmm, I don't really know. 'Proto''s got a ring to it."

"And for the second, you don't pay me. In fact, as your total savings tabulator, you don't have much money to be paying people anyways, let alone a machine you created to give you companionship."

"Power forbid, Proto, you keep hitting my emotional hot keys whenever we have these discussions. It's becoming a bit of a bitch." Proto faced the floor in defeat.

"My apologies, Master Diamond. Acknowledging mistake. Entering into memory un-" A loud beeping sound came from the corner of the dormitory. I slid on the mandatory S.I. High shirt and took a look. "I do believe that is the IdeaShare system, Master Diamond. One new message detected." I signed into the touch screen console, accessing the message from the school's private database.

"Two things, Proto, first is that I know what it is. I've been here nearly my entire life. Second? Can you please call me 'Sam'? A lot less syllables to process." Proto nodded as the message came up on screen.

"Yes, Mast-er, Sam. I will certainly reconfigure settings to fix that." I focussed my eyes on the screen, reading the words in front of me.

"[MESSAGE SUBJECT: Important meeting in MP.]

Be sure to go to the MP for today's classes. Also be sure to wear the school-given black pants for this occasion.

Also note; those who have not given in an Idea into the system will be sent out of option courses and into assisted design.

Dr. L.

[MESSAGE END.]"

I shook my head, a half grin appearing on my face.

"School-given black pants? Fuck that. And assisted design? No thanks, not for me."

"Pardon me, Sam, but you are already scoring in the genius level, and at the rate your brain creates fully-formed thoughts, sharing a single idea couldn't possibly hurt. Plus, I do believe that you wanted to take up the option of flying, correct?" I chuckled and nodded.

"Ya, I already can pilot, so it's an easy 'perfect'. There's a problem though-every idea I have is always one I must do myself. Otherwise, if I had posted every stage of the holo-watch, everyone would have one. Like I'd want that." Proto nodded in acknowledgement.

"Yes, Sam, but the black pants, I don't suggest you-"

"Proto - command, shut down."

"Understood, Sam." Proto faced the floor and pulled up into the ceiling. I shook my head. Still one of my most successful inventions. Even if he is just the prototype stage! His AI is so human, it's perfect company for me. And he's intelligent, quite unlike the majority of the students here. That's the problem; there's only one school here for the entire Sky Island, or more specifically, just the central Sky Island, the only place humans live. The rest of the island is populated mostly by tribal races and powerful specialist beats.

The point is, you get structure coated in an uncontrolled array of parties, fights, and public obscenities. Yet they choke the good ones like we were the rope off the edge of the Great Desert. For me, the only genius present in this atmosphere, it's a living Hell. That's alright though, it's a free excuse to rebel and hardly ever give a fuck. I slipped on my holo-watch and stepped outside into the hall.

A claustrophobia's nightmare. So thin, you get yourself and maybe an inch of space. Terrible conditions. Oh well, it's just a hall. Besides, the main foyer of the dormitories is a lot bigger, being the main location where the elevators are. The ones in the dormitories run on a system of pulleys. The ones in the head building to the MP? A lot different.

I looked up and observed all the other boys piling out the glass doors to the courtyard. Was I already at the ground floor? That's the bad thing about being able to live in a memory; you lose track of reality. I've already named my own condition; "Temporal Distortion", a loss of the mental rack of time. And its been hitting me like a motherfucker. Oh well. Best live in my head than in the Hell of this high school.

The stream of bodies pushed me out into the courtyard, my shoes clanging on the steel. I've always been utterly disgusted by how little effort they put into this place- some terribly fake grass patches and then cold steel everywhere else. So what if this school is some metal buildings on a metal base at sea level? You may as well put some real work into it! Whatever, it's not like I can go and bitch at the original designers for this place. I could also say that the dormitories being right across from each other only help inspire peeping toms and also spike interest in sexual activity if the only view you got is the girl's dorm. Also, a launchsite for a head building lobby? Crazy, but I guess it works for you, so whatever. The MP elevator inspired my interest in flight, so I always love to use 'em.


	3. Chapter Two: And on to the next

I nearly lose myself in the thought of being able to fly away from here, go wherever it is I choose to go, be free to be free. Flight is one of the few things in my small world that gives me hope. The other? Well, I haven't made up my mind on an exact name for her yet, but as of now, I call her my "crush". One of the few unintelligent words I use. Alas, it is true. Even her name seems to match mine; Madison Ruby. Both gemstone last names. We share a similar story, too.

I can remember every detail of that day about twelve years ago. It's a complete mystery why i can't remember earlier than then, but that's to me my "first day of mental life". Anyways, the typical Sky Island High way to take in students was to take them at age three and begin to teach them the ways of how to be a citizen to help the entire Central Sky Island. In other words, making innocent kids crave and fantasize working.

Me? Well, I was different from day one. First off, I always wanted to get my ideas out with pen and paper, before the damn IdeaShare system. I drew crazy things, architecture, diagrams of new technologies (one being a very shitty drawing of Proto), the whole works. Problem is, they took them away from me and sent them to the CSI engineers to create for the public. They thought 'Proto' was a useless thing and allowed me to keep it. Aside from that one moment, my life was Hell in colour. Only two things kept me going; a constant vision of attaining flight, and the mystery girl across the room.

Okay, so i lied about similar stories. She comes from a wealthy investors group that runs finances all over CSI, and I can't remember past the day they found me in the place the would be the MP and took me in. I always had this feeling that we were somehow… Alike. A hidden similarity that drew thoughts of her into the atmosphere of my brain. I never really knew her, though, until just a year ago.

Call me crazy genius, but we said "hi" and introduced ourselves. That's it. Some people call my condition "loving blindly", or even "a thing for dirty blonds with soft features and a borderline pale skin tone". I call them exactly right. I hate to admit it, but they are. I'm stuck with this wish to be with her. And in my case, I can never forget anything. Just like my room mate case with Jack.

We never were good friends. Up until just recently, we've wished each other dead on numerous occasions. Fact; we first actually met in a fight. Not with each other, of course. See, he was absolutely fucking up one other guy, David Nickel, and I tired to pull him off. Horrible mistake; being 6' 2", he's king of everything in his world. He whipped around and kicked my poor ass with a single on-angle punch. I can still remember his ripped, muscular arm going full-force on me - hurt like a bitch. I winced, phasing into reality for only a brief second. Correction; still _does_ hurt like a bitch. Doesn't matter though, we're friends now, due to the fact the school sticks you and whoever fought with you in a room together for "emotional healing". So, as opposed to six to a room, we have two. With that luxury, we're at each other's in public to keep the act going. Besides, he's taught me a lot; how to tan with the horrible window space we get (I don't tan, I stay my darkish-beige, but Jack? He gets a light brown, suits him nicely), how to read people's facial expressions, even a taste of fight training, though I doubt I'll need it.

Reality phased in at that moment, and i looked over to see Jack and a few of his friends standing in the second-last elevator to the MP.

"C'mon, Sam. Don't be late!" he called out. I started walking over when he hit the 'IGNITION' button and began launching. He held up his middle finger on his right hand and winked. "Fuck you, Sam." I grinned and watched the fireworks display from the exhaust from the elevator.

"Fuck you too, Jack," I muttered under my breath. I shook my head and walked to the last elevator. Last one up again. I need some medication or something for my memory condition.

"Wait! Hold the elevator!" a voice called out from the main entrance. I looked up in shock. I was always the last one up! Who managed to beat me at my own personal game today? The glass doors opened as I found out.

It was her. Why the hell was _she_ late? I mean, she's typically known to be on time. But yet, there she is, Madison Ruby, running in. I lost my breath, slowly choking on my heart in my throat. Everything else seemed to fade away, leaving her in a mist of the world. I breathed out, my utter awe being unleashed. How could the creator spirits create such beauty in a singular being? I don't know. All I know is that I'm in love with all 5' 11" of her. Her hair waved behind her as she ran, seemingly taunting me into following its pattern with my head. At that moment I lost my balance and leaned on the control panel. All was good, but - why was there smoke being released? It's not like I hit the 'IGNITI - aw, shit.


	4. Chapter Three: A Taste Of Action

Here's the thing about one-stage elevators; you can't hold the damn door. Once you hit 'IGNITION', there's no turning back. And I did. I seriously just did. Why the fuck is it that whenever I get a moment that her and I can actually be together, I go and hit 'IGNITION'? Now the light and ear-killing sound from the engine is all I can sense. I can already feel Madison's judgement of me weighing on my shoulders. Felt like nearly ten tonnes of emotional stress slowly crushing my soul. I winced as the pain became real for a brief second and I exhaled out a heavy breath. Panic set into my mind and my head faced every which direction in a few seconds. This elevator was made of glass, totally breakable, and a nice test too… Decided.

I quickly accessed the holo-watch and set it to the newly installed function I worked my ass off to get. I grinned. This was going to work. My finger hovered over the command button as I tried to balance in the rocking elevator. I was up in the air a bit, but it should work for me…

"Command initiated," the watch's voice spoke. Then everything went from unfortunate to borderline catastrophic.

The watch's face extended out another two-so inches, revealing a thin layer of of micro carbon fibber and small cannons embedded in it. It released a high pitched screech and then a thin energy ring was sent from the watch through the elevator, cutting the glass casing without failure. I did a quick circle to look at everything. A perfect line. My eyes widened and my bottom jaw broke away from my top jaw.

"It worked! It seriously worked! I _am_ a genius!" I cried out to the air. That's when fucking gravity kicked in.

The elevator's thrust was lost due to major drag created from the loss of the curved roof and upper walls. I looked down. I know you really shouldn't when you're high up, but I did. I underestimated the height - what I thought was 45-so feet turned out to be around 150. Oh, joy. "Fuck, I'm an idiot!" I cursed at my own damn luck. Always, I'm so great with ideas that always end up failing. Still, what I'm more focussed on is making it back to Earth. **Alive**.

The plummet started there, back down into the launching chute. I had a strategy in mind, but the momentum would provide me with some motion sickness, and I don't even know if it would work. It's the only shot I have though, both to live with minimal consequence and be able to properly say good morning to Madison. More the second one at this rate. I _never_ get face time with her, and I don't want to miss today. It's a rare occasion, and I'm not going to let an accidental launch ruin that.

I tuned back in to reality, 25 feet from the ground. Fuck! Why is it always so damn easy to drift off in life-or-death scenarios? Oh, well, time for action. I lowered myself to a crouch, counting down the seconds until I had to do this. I closed my eyes, sensing the changes. 3…2…1…Go! My eyes opened up wide as my legs extended and I shot into the air. Not really "shot" as much as stayed in my previous place ten feet above ground. The elevator finished its descent, crashing into pieces upon impact. I heard the frightened gasp of Madison as she witnessed the crash. Madison! I landed on top of the wreckage a few seconds later, letting the shock be absorbed by my body. I looked up, seeing her standing only two feet away. I stood up fully and brushed myself off, more for the the show appeal than need to. We locked eyes for a minute and I thought of everything that would happen past this point.

She quickly wrapped her arms around me, digging her chest into mine, getting as close as she could. I draped my arms around her. Can't give up a chance to touch a beautiful woman.

"Sam, I'm so glad that you're okay! You had me worrying for your life there! Don't do that again!"

"I promise you I won't as long as you're here." She pulled out of the hug and faced me.

"I bet you want something to make the fear of going through that go away, huh?" I nodded and she grinned, showing her beautifully white teeth. Her light green eyes sparkled. "I think I know what you'd want…" She moved closer, her lips nearly touching mine…

SMACK! A throbbing pain filled the receptors of my left cheek. My head quickly faced the right side. 'FUCK!' I thought to myself. 'Why is my vision always better then the real thing?' I faced Madison. Her eyes were glazed with fury. I shook in my own skin.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" she began. I tried to close off access to my emotions. Here comes the rant. "You could have gotten yourself killed, and I'd be the one to blame. Seriously, i don't have a clear record here for nothing! Why the heck did you do that instead of just going up?" There it was; 'heck'. She had a completely clean mouth. Just my luck. I tried to remove all cusses and dirty disses from my mind as I responded.

"I did that because-er, I mean, I did that 'cause… Morning, Madison." I stumbled out. A little voice in my head in the back of my head started laughing its ass off. Only she could make me choke and have me talking like a brain dead Frostelous. (On a sidetone, a Frostelous is a raptor-like being designed to live in the Great Frostlands because their manes are formed from ice crystals. Their eyes glow a red and they communicate in slurs and occasional screeches for positioning.) She rolled her eyes, turning the other way.

"And _you're_ the only guy at genius level in this school? How embarrassing. I also noticed you don't post any ideas, not even idiotic ones. What's up with that?" I agreed with her. Embarrassing for me, to be a genius and yet still lose control of my tongue whenever I see - wait, how would se know I don't post ideas?

"I'm sorry, what was that last part again? How would you know I don't post any ideas into the system?" She twitched her head, and I could imagine her eyes were wide in horror that she said something like that.

"Um… I just guessed you don't?"

"And sounded so adamantly certain while 'guessing'? Be honest, you check me IdeaShare page, don't you?" Madison turned to face me, her head angled more downward to avoid eye contact.

"Yes, yes I do. I just have so many ideas myself and I was hoping the only genius guy at this school could have at least one for me to connect with. You know I hardly date because I want a smart guy to be my boyfriend? A hard thing to find here I guess." I opened my mouth to say that I could be hers, but she stopped me short. "Now, more on present day matters, how are we going to get to the MP? It was the meeting where we got our new options!" Aw, shit, the deadline was _today_? I'm totally not getting into flying, then… Wait a second…

"We'll fly there!" I cried out, this idea seeming like a breakthrough to me. Madison stared at me with a mix of confusion and disbelief. Almost like she knew what I was thinking.

" We can't. There aren't any elevators left." I grinned.

"Yes, but there are shuttles in the shuttle bay, and since everyone's at the MP, there's nobody here to watch them." Madison's eyes widened, as she obviously began thinking of the trouble she could get in.

"But - you can't pilot a shuttle unless you're monitored! And that's even _after_ intensive simulation! You can't!" I pulled her arm towards the main entrance.

"Time to find out if you're right."


	5. Chapter Four: Flight Preparations

"What? No, you're crazy!" Madison fought as I pulled her through the doors to the courtyard. I grinned and chuckled lightly.

"No, not crazy, _genius_," I replied, pressing on past the dorms. The shuttle port was right there, almost there, sweet freedom… After we got to the meeting, of course. After that, though, free!

"Even for a '_genius_', this is absolute madness! What the heck would they think if we got caught?" I shook my head. There it was again; 'heck'. I stopped her in her tracks and faced her.

"Look, Madison, I know we hardly know each other, but can you _please_ just have a dirtier mouth? For example; 'you annoy the living shit out of me when you say the word 'heck'.' Now you try." She chuckled for a second, then grabbed me and pulled me close, my nose touching hers. Fact, 'touching' was an understatement; it was like that were cuddling. She glared me right in my eyes.

"You annoy the living shit out of me when you want to change the way I usually deal with people I don't know and it's really fucking me off how a guy can be such a little bitch." I exhaled sharply. Madison; GREATEST GIRL I KNOW! My mind raced nearly seventy times as fast as usual. Holy shit, holy shit, Madison swears! I can unlock me mouth now! I choked back a bit of saliva and opened my mouth.

"Power and unnamed combined, Madison, do you have any idea how fucking hot that was?" I zipped my mouth shut at that moment. Even after my vocal is unlocked, linguistic Sam still shows up late. Madison shook her head and walked ahead of me.

"Look, keep your damn feelings out of this until we get to the MP safely and I get my option." I got out of the shock to bring in the new wave of confusion.

"Wait, I thought you said you didn't want to do this." She turned to look at me.

"Yes, but better to go on my own accord than have toy drag me there. Now come on, let.s get moving." A dopey grin spread across my face as I followed her like a lost puppy, awestruck at how such a perfect girl would slip through my fingers.

The shuttle port was dead silent as I predicted, and the shuttles in their glorious white-and-grey colouring were lined in columns of two, perfectly untouched. Madison already hit the prep room and pulled a checklist and two pilot helmets from the locker storages. I laughed and waved me hand in a 'get out here' motion.

"There is no way I'm wearing a helmet. Seriously, we're in a _shuttle_, why would we need a helmet when both be in the cockpit?" Madison tossed one of the helmets back into the prep room.

"Point taken, however, you have _very_ limited foresight, Sam. Helmets may help."

"_Tut_," I spat out, not even a full sound being made. "I have plenty of foresight. For example, you haven't eaten, have you?" Madison clicked the strap on the helmet, fitting it to her head. She shook her head, now slightly larger and not blond. Too bad… I gotta love the hair appeal.

"No, I haven't actually… Why does that matter?" I dug out a small pastry from my back pocket.

"Because I haven't either." I tore the pastry in half, tossing her one piece. "Catch!" Madison reached and did exactly that; with her left hand. So pretty coordinated too… Incredibly hot. She stared at the half, then began towards me.

"You expect me to eat this?" she inquired, popping open the cockpit of our selected shuttle. I nodded.

"Well, ya… I guess so." She placed the checklist in the pilot seat, now so close to me that we were nearly touching.

"After it's been in your pants?" She stared me down with a haze of light green, a dark smile lurking on her face. My head cocked to the right, as I seemed to be thinking her thought.

"Um… I'm not sure what exactly you mean by that, like… Is this some sort of weird sexual reference?"

"If it was, I'd be doing _this_." She bit into the half of the pastry, slowly exaggerating every motion with her eyes closed. My eyes widened as I drifted off into my own world.

Everything disintegrated around her, and I imagined her blond hair flowing down past her shoulders, waving in a light breeze. Her standard S.I. High clothes vanished, replaced by a flowing dress, covered in roses. I lost my senses for a second, drifting off into the space myself. I brought my arm up, caressing the back of her neck, feeling its soft and perfectly smooth texture. Her eyes opened, bringing great life into my own fantasy wor-why were her eyes open? That's when I drew my hand back, staring at the ground as the steel colour of everywhere else in the building removed my creation from history. Madison looked at me with intensive feeling to it; not angry, but… There were too many emotions to clearly tell. I broke the silence before she did.

" We should get in the shuttle now, we, uh, have to get there ad stuff." She smiled a bit in the right corner of her mouth.

"First sentence you've said today that made sense. Congratulations, Sam." I blushed, ashamed she called me out for it. I boosted myself into the shuttle, mostly just to avoid the increasingly awkward eye contact we had.

"Coming in?" I asked. She boosted herself in the same as I did.

"Two in a row. You're on fire, aren't you, Sam?: I ignored her sarcasm and picked the checklist off my seat. Three whole items, huh? This was gonna be quick.

"Flaps?"

"Check."

"Fuel levels?"

"Check."

"Emergency kit?"

"Check. I think there's one more." I looked down on the paper. She was right, last one.

"Make Sam isn't bitchi-hey!" Madison laughed, the sound of it filling the shuttle port with a sweet, comforting sound. I tossed the list on the ground, staring at the shuttle's controls. Madison poked her head over my seat.

"The black button on the left of your controls the cockpit door."

"Right, I knew that," I replied, hitting the button. The cockpit door retracted from a forward position to tucking into its proper slit. I flipped up the safety glass on the control joystick in my right hand. There it was, a flashing red 'IGNITION' button. I turned back to look at Madison. "Well, let's go!" I hit the 'IGNITION' button, and all I could hear was the sonic boom behind us.


	6. Chapter Five: Flight Until The Flight

Normally there's some drag that starts you off slower and then getting up to full. Then again, I've never read up on these things before. This was new to me, this was foreign to me, this was... Far too fast for me. Madison had to agree.

"GET ME OFF! I SHOULD HAVE NEVER FUCKING LISTENED TO YOU, SAM DIAMOND! THIS IS UTTER MADNESS! INSANITY! AN ENTIRE SHITLOAD OF-"

"MADISON!" I replied with an equally ear-splitting yell. She quieted down and listened. "Calm down. We're in a shuttle, and nothing's going to be able to injure us in thi-HOLY SHIT, HEAD BUILDING!" I swerved the motion joystick, barely missing the large shaft of the head building. Madison turned her head to face the increasingly smaller building.

"POWER, SAM, YOU COULD HAVE KILLED US!"

"I know, Madison, but we're alive, aren't we?" I retorted quickly. My mind reeled in short confusion; why was I so calm at the controls of a flying deathtrap? I had no idea, but I knew that I had to get Madison and I to the MP. '_Safely'_. Hopefully safely didn't happen to mean '_alive_' to her...

I quickly jerked upward, and I could hear Madison fall back against her seat.

"Sam, what are we doing? Shouldn't we be-"

"-Heading to the MP?" I finished. "We are, just a... Scenic route, you could say."

"A 'scenic' route? Sam, you do realize that this thing does use _fuel_, right?" My eyes widened. Shit, I forgot about that. I quickly ended the lurch upward, levelled out and instead did a 180 turn and flew at the higher altitude. "Sam, where are we going?"

"The MP is on the south of the island, we're up farther north. I'm just saving some fuel to be able to get us to the southern part. Besides, vertical climbs take it out on the fuel tank." Though I couldn't see her, I could feel that Madison was impressed.

"Sam, how do you know that?" I did a quick half grin, more for the show appeal to myself.

"I have some... Basic knowledge." I looked up through the glass of the cockpit. I saw the southern corner of Sky Island where the MP was located. "And that basic knowledge tells me to do another climb. Hold on."

I threw the joystick down, bringing the nose of the shuttle up. Madison fell into the back of her seat again, this time with a bit more preparation.

"Sam, I swear, I don't care how much I may force myself to like you, but if you kill us, I'm going to kill you for the eternity you live as a spirit." I smiled.

"Good thing we'll be there alive." I revised my plan; looks like crashing _wasn't_ going to work. I continued upward, increasing the speed past the limit mark. Huh, must have been a new guy's shuttle. I could see Sky Island, getting closer, closer, closer still...

"Attention students!" Headmaster Dr. L. cried out from the stand. "As you all know, we have gathered here today so that each of you could be assigned options." The students all cried out. At last; the purpose for being here after waiting nearly fifteen minutes! Dr. L. signalled silence. She continued; "Now, we must all do this in an orderly and careful fashion in which nobody gets heavily injur-" At the moment she lost her sentence, the shuttle Sam and Madison were in shot up, being seen by all the students through the large, glass roof.

"Oh boy, there they all are," I observed, talking more to myself than Madison.

"Ya, there they are. Now can you pull down for our descent?" She glanced at her monitor. "We're nearly 3,000 meters too high." I nodded.

"Can do, Madison, a nice descent down to the MP, just for yo-" An annoying buzz filled my headset. I started looking through my measurements. The height limit wasn't exceeded. There as no real governor on the speed that would warn me. Fuel was empty. The cockpit glass fluid was still fu-THE FUEL! Fuck! Madison was right, again, as she always has been. I turned to face her, slowing the speed so no asphyxiation would occur from too much G-Force. "Madison, hang on to your seat. Like, this time if you want to live."


End file.
